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Kay Elson is glad she's no longer "chief prison warden". As
operations manager of Mission Australia's Campbell House homeless
shelter in Surry Hills, she ran a grim, rundown fortress that
isolated its residents from the world.

Now a $7 million redevelopment has shattered the prison walls
for good. The refurbished 28-year-old building, renamed the Mission
Australia Centre and modelled partly on the landmark Common Ground
shelter in New York, is a bold attempt to transform crisis
accommodation into a bustling community hub.

Gone are the squalid brick walls which, Elson argues, created a
"fear factor" among passers-by. Stairs now lead to a paved landing
that doubles as an outdoor recreation area. Long glass windows let
in warmth and light and ensure transparency between the shelter and
the street. The welcoming ambience continues inside with a
reception, a massive communal area and a pod of computers. Elson
says she's keen to open the meeting rooms for community yoga,
fitness classes and internet cafe.

Upstairs, depressing dormitories have given way to a new
"homeless shelter hip". Five floors have been remodelled into
apartments containing a kitchen, bathroom and between six and eight
private bedrooms.

The living areas are the most impressive. These are airy and
spacious, with gleaming benchtops, vinyl floors, sleek furniture
(IKEA donated about $30,000 worth) and widescreen plasma TVs. Each
opens onto a balcony, the prettiest of which is on the sun-drenched
top floor.

"The building evens itself out," says architect Ingo Niemeier,
of Baulderstone Hornibrook. "The higher you go, the smaller the
floors get but there's more light and better [harbour] views."

Aspects of the fit-out required special sensitivity.
Co-architect Simon Zadow says soothing interior colours were
chosen, with each floor a different shade. "If you had a sameness,
it gets back to that institutional feel. What we've done adds
[character] and makes it more like a home."

Another imperative was suicide-proofing the building. This meant
erecting high balcony railings and eliminating hanging points - all
lights are in the ceiling; there are no dangling chandeliers. Even
the bathroom towel hook folds under excessive weight.

Other features include a basement arts space and nine subsidised
housing units. These will be available to low-income earners and
even former homeless residents as upward mobility, not just
charity, is the aim. "The idea is that [homeless people] come,
learn skills, their dignity is given back and then they move on ...
so they can get a job and start contributing to society," Elson
says. "Most of these men want to do that."

Mission Australia Centre will be opened by the Prime
Minister John Howard next month.